Magnesium crystal structures, lattice parameters

Most pure metals adopt one of three crystal structures, Al, copper structure, (cubic close-packed), A2, tungsten structure, (body-centred cubic) or A3, magnesium structure, (hexagonal close-packed), (Chapter 1). If it is assumed that the structures of metals are made up of touching spherical atoms, (the model described in the previous section), it is quite easy, knowing the structure type and the size of the unit cell, to work out their radii, which are called metallic radii. The relationships between the lattice parameters, a, for cubic crystals, a, c, for hexagonal crystals, and the radius of the component atoms, r, for the three common metallic structures, are given below. 

If without additives, a carrier such as A3 consists of a mixture of 8-, 0-, and a-aluminas between 900° and 1000°C. The presence of the metal oxides, introduced by impregnation, effectively maintains a cubic type structure at a calcining temperature of 900°-1000°C. With alumina, these oxides form spinel-structured compounds which are more or less well crystallized. Because of the insertion of alumina, the lattice parameter of these compounds is expanded with respect to that of the stoichiometric spinel. The properties of the carrier are thus maintained up to a temperature which depends on the considered mixed oxide. At this temperature—about 1000 °C with magnesium aluminate and 900°C with zinc and copper aluminates—the stoichiometric spinel recrystallizes while a-alumina is rejected (6). The carrier then suddenly loses its mechanical and structural properties. None of the mentioned additives could improve the stability of the Cl carrier above 1000°C. 

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